


the sweetest mercy

by ladydetective



Category: Book of the Ancestor Series - Mark Lawrence
Genre: F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 06:01:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28346568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladydetective/pseuds/ladydetective
Summary: A collection of tumblr prompts/ficlets, I'll add character and relationship tags when they appear
Relationships: Sister Apple/Sister Kettle (Book of the Ancestor)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	the sweetest mercy

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write something shorter over christmas so I thought i'd give some tumblr prompts a go. I'm down to write (mostly) any bota pairing, so hit me up @applekettle on tumblr or @gaelalear on twitter if you have any. 
> 
> this one is set shortly after the battle, in the middle of more than just surviving, essentially.

Kettle couldn’t feel Apple. Their shadow-connection was uncommonly strong - even if they were thousands of miles apart, they’d still be able to reach out to one another. That only silence greeted her desperate enquiries now could mean only one thing - she was gone. Her mind knew this was the most likely outcome, but her heart revolted at the very notion. 

She picked her way across the remnants of the battlefield, her heart in her stomach. Her eyes scanned the faces of the fallen, simultaneously needing closure and dreading it. She couldn’t see Apple - but she did recognise countless others. People she’d known for years - novices, Sisters, colleagues - their lives snuffed out in one night. Normally, this would cause a grief too deep to name - but all she could do was continue her search. She had to  _ know _ .

Finally, Kettle found herself in the Cathedral. Those who were mostly uninjured had been piling the bodies of the deceased there, awaiting some kind of burial. They looked at her with undisguised pity in their eyes as she entered, before gesturing wordlessly to a body near the centre of the room. 

Everything else fell away as she approached - the entire room could have screamed her name and she would not have noticed. Apple had been laid out next to several others, her body unnaturally still. Her hands were arranged so as to cover the gaping wound in her stomach. She must have lost her veil long ago, because her hair - somehow,  _ impossibly _ , still beautiful - fanned out uncontained around her. 

Something inside of Kettle broke. She fell to her knees, curling herself around her lover’s body. It had only been hours ago that they’d held one another - something they’d never do again. Her cheeks were wet with tears and her body shook with sobs, but she made no sound - the crushing grief she felt was beyond vocalisation.

She was gone. Kettle would never see her again - never hold her in her arms, never make her laugh, never look into her eyes. Apple was her  _ life _ \- whenever she went out on a mission, it was the thought of returning home to the other woman that kept her going, that kept her fighting. She wasn’t sure how she’d do that without her - she wasn’t sure how to  _ be _ without her. 

* * *

  
Kettle woke with a start, breathing heavily. It took a moment for her mind to register that she was not in Verity but Sweet Mercy, sequestered in Apple’s quarters in the Shade Caverns. She was also dimly aware that she was soaking wet. 

“Kettle,  _ Kettle _ ,” said Apple urgently from beside her. She was holding an empty pitcher of water in her hands. Kettle’s heart  _ leapt _ at the sight of her, remembering her dream. “Are you alright? You were making awful noises, and I shook you and shook you, but you wouldn’t wake up. I had to throw this over you to snap you out of it.”

“Appy,” Kettle breathed, falling into her lover’s arms. Tears borne both of relief and lingering despair fell from her eyes. “I had the dream again. You were  _ gone _ .”

She started sobbing in earnest, then. Apple held her as she cried it out, pressing tender kisses to her cheek, lips, and neck. “I’m here,” she said, “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. You haven’t lost me. I love you,” another kiss, “I love you, I love you.”

Eventually, Kettle’s sobs subsided. She relaxed into Apple’s embrace, but her mind is still troubled. It had been ever since the battle. “I can’t stop thinking about that night,” she said, after a beat, “Every time I go to sleep, I lose you all over again. It’s relentless.”

Her lover looked at her and brushed a hand over her cheek delicately. “I know, my love, I know. All I can say is that I’m here, and I don’t plan on going anywhere any time soon. The battle was tough, but I made it. You made it.” She took her hand and gripped it tightly. “ _ We _ made it. And I know the dreams are terrible now, but they will get better. Mine did. I had them for months, after you almost died to the Noi-Guin, remember?”

“Not the kind of thing you easily forget,” Kettle mumbled. 

Apple allowed herself a brief chuckle. “True. But my point is - they got better, over time. I still worry about losing you when you’re on a mission, don’t get me wrong - but the nightmares aren’t crippling, not anymore. You’ll feel better than this - I promise.”

Kettle sat up properly and stared at Apple in wonderment. She always knew exactly how to make her feel better. How on Abeth did she ever get so lucky? “I love you so much.”

Apple smiled, softly. “I love you too. What do you want to do now? Go back to sleep? Or shall we get up? We’re expected to be at the morning service in a little over an hour.”

As much as the other woman’s words had calmed her, she didn’t think she could face sleep at the moment. She wrapped her arms around Apple and rested her head on her chest. The other woman ran a deft hand through her hair in a comforting gesture. “Let’s just… stay like this, for a while.”


End file.
